Marc Benno Lost In Austin 1979

Here's a lost gem for you. Something to look for in a used record shop.

Benno is a guitarist, singer and songwriter with plenty of skill in all three areas. While his voice is fine, it is not what makes his work memorable. It is his writing that really shines, with a deft touch for both melody and lyric.

And on this particular record, all the pieces are in place, and everyone involved is stellar. Produced and engineered by the genius of Glyn Johns, the recording is warm, clear and spirited. But what makes this a record to hear thirty-five years after its release is the band. Carl Radle on bass, Jim Keltner on drums, Dick Sims on keyboards, and Albert Lee on guitar, with Eric Clapton guesting on at least two songs, and Dickie Morresey on saxophone. Benno adds his own guitar and piano. These guys could blow you away in their sleep. And they stay awake through the entire project.

Nice singer-songwriter rock and roll with highly skilled accompaniment. If any guitarist deserves comparison to Clapton, Albert Lee is the guy (he toured with Clapton several times). Jim Keltner is never less than terrific.

If you like Clapton's work around this same time, this is a fine addition to that oeuvre.

Robert Palmer Woke Up Laughing 1998 and At The BBC 2010

I covered pretty much the entire Robert Palmer catalog back here in 2010. But these two items escaped that treatment, mainly because I hadn't heard them at the time. At The BBC is an excellent live recording from 1983 that is well recorded with a hot band touring in support of Palmer's Pride album. It is the only posthumous release from Palmer since his untimely death in 2003, other than a few redundant "Best Of"s and a nearly complete/only somewhat flawed 2-CD Anthology. This is either a remarkable level of restraint from Palmer's estate, or there's just too many lawyers involved. Anyway, it is a worthwhile recording that fans deserved to have released.

Woke Up Laughing is a collection of previously released material put together by Palmer in his lifetime, and as such is not wholly original. But half of the songs are either (significantly) remixed or rerecorded, and the theme of collecting Palmer's African and Caribbean rhythm explorations in one place makes for an unusually coherent, and really good, Robert Palmer record. The remixed material is generally at least the original's equal. I always liked what these songs contributed to their respective releases, but putting them all in one place would not have occurred to me as a great idea. I'd have been wrong.

Robin McKelle Heart Of Memphis 2014

Those people that feel music is dead and there's no great new artists sure are a drag. The only thing new about this music is that it is new. I mean that Ms. McKelle has written a tribute to the sound of Memphis (Stax, Hi) that is both loving tribute, in the style (ala), but also wholly new and original.

And that is a pretty cool deal right there.

I stumbled upon Robin McKelle over at PledgeMusic, and was intrigued enough to just try this one out. Her backstory is a bit odd I must say. Born in upstate New York, and "discovered" in France singing interpretations of the classic jazz songbook in a big band setting (Introducing Robin McKelle 2006 and Modern Antique 2008), she followed that with Mess Around 2010, a more contemporary jazz-pop outing, if I'm reading her bio correctly. And then she wrote most of Soul Flower 2011. I have heard none of those records, so I have no idea if they rival this one, but given her singing, they can't possibly be bad.

Memphis has been rediscovered again recently, with retro-soul outings recorded on site from Boz Scaggs and Paul Rodgers and many others. What makes this release so special is that the songs are newly penned by McKelle, with help from several band members, and they totally nail the Memphis sound without being derivative. Oh, the band is spectacular. The six-piece Flytones, with drums, bass, guitar, keyboards and two horns, rock these songs to the ground every time. Robin McKelle has a perfect alto voice with a touch of rasp, and she sings with street-cred soul.

One of the two covers is a fabulous reading of Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, the Animal's chestnut. This song has been covered to death, but I've never heard a fast version nearly as good as this one. Ben Stivers organ is choice, but so is the whole arrangement. But the originals are where this baby shines, with Baby You're The Best, Down With The Ship, Good and Plenty, About To Be Your Baby, and Good Time all stars. There really isn't a weak track. The title track and Like A River emulate the Hi Records sound so well you don't even miss Al Green. Soulful and laid back, with that thing that moves your hips in a, well, Memphis, sort of way.

Give in to it.

Morphine Cure For Pain 1993

Morphine managed to be largely overlooked during most of their ten years. But they are at once fascinating and a bunch of fun. With their odd-ball instrumentation of two-stringed bass, baritone sax and drums, they should never have sounded so much like a fine rock band as they most certainly did. Credit Mark Sandman's great songs and Jerome Deupree's brilliant drumming. And the best rock guitar ever played on saxophone, Dana Colley's baritone, frequently multi-tracked to fatten the already fat bari-tone.

So it's just another rock power trio, at least in some ways. But there's a bit of jazz, and strangely powerful rhythm, smart lyrics, and an expansive sound culled from the limitations they impose on themselves. These three guys did more than work well together, they were thinking and breathing as a unit.

Side one is just about perfect. The single Beuna rocks with a jazzy swing, while the mid-tempo I'm Free Now is a terrific melody. All Wrong, Candy, and A Head With Wings all have killer sax breaks and songwriting highlights either lyrical or melodic to recommend them. Sandman picks up an acoustic guitar for In Spite Of Me, a beautiful lyric ballad of loss to end the side.

The scary tale of illicit lust and the husband that just might kill you that is Thursday explodes the second side in fine style. The rest of side two branches out a bit more, and not everything pops like the first side. But Cure For Pain, and the spacey-cool Let's Take A Trip Together are solid.

It is almost the whole record, and plenty by any standard. I think I like 1995's Yes even more, but I've spent more time with that one.

Zappadan 2015

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

You can almost hear the percussion ringing out...

Happy celebrators singing 'round the fire...

"Did a vehicle
Come from somewhere out there
Just to land in the Andes?
Was it round
And did it have
A motor
Or was it Something Different?"
from Inca Roads, 1975

There's a swell version on YT right here. Happy Zappadan.
Keep your eyes open for miracles. We could always use a few.



 

Edgar Winter's White Trash Introducing Jerry LaCroix 1971

Strange things go on in the vinyl reissue sector. There are quite a few live outings that have been released on vinyl only (some of questionable quality, others pretty darn good, but basically bootlegs), and loads of reissues of major- and minor- label "classics". There are many audiophile quality (read over-priced) versions of truly great releases (how many versions of Blood On The Tracks do you own?) And there are oddball anomalies. Sometimes you can find reissues of everything except the one great record by a band or performer. And maybe it has more to do with the ease of licensing a given record than the actual quality.

All that said, I was still surprised to see this record receive new reissued vinyl status recently. I didn't think it was all that big when it came out. I always liked a few choice cuts, but never thought of it as a strong record from start to finish. My copy is 45 years old, and it's got a bit more surface noise than ideal, but I'll discuss it because it sounds fine. When I saw that it had been reissued, I went to listen to it again, and discovered it in the primary stacks (some records don't fit in the stereo room), having never been moved to secondary storage, a pretty good sign for a record I bought new 45 years ago.

And the more I listen, the less surprised I am that it got reissued. It's not perfect or anything like that, but it is a special treat in several ways. LaCroix brings a gospel flavor to the recording that shines on Save The Planet and Give It Everything You Got. The band itself is a drums, bass, guitar rhythm section plus Winter's vocals, keyboards and sax and three more singer/horn players (including LaCroix). So you get these great back-up vocal choruses and a four man horn section, whatever you want for the song. The record includes Winter's classic, autobiographical Keep Playin' That Rock "N" Roll, and the soulful ballad Dying To Live. There's blues, gospel, soul, and that unique seventies horn-rock thing that Chicago, Tower of Power, and Ides of March did so well. If there's a down side, the lyrical content quality dips in a few places, and not every song works like the best of them.

That sounds like nit-picking even to me. I'm on my third recent time through it as I write this, and I just keep remembering more and more of what I like about it. It is definitely of more consistent quality than I had remembered. This is not the Edgar Winter of Frankenstein fame, and that's a good thing about it. A rock-hot soul stew drenched in horns. Coming strong out of Texas and Louisiana to a record player near you. Just in time for your holiday shopping.

Bob Dylan Shadows Of The Nght 2015

So here we have Bob Dylan's tribute to Frank Sinatra. It is, on some level, everything the rave reviews say it is. Dylan pays loving homage to a style of music that came before his own. He inhabits the lyrics, caresses them from his lips, with some shockingly good singing. The use of his own touring and recording band works out just fine. The only problem is that it is dull and boring, every arrangement more lifeless than the one before.

Rolling Stone gave it four stars (out of five, not ten).

The Guardian gave it five stars and called it "an unalloyed pleasure".

The Telegraph gave it five stars and called it "extraordinary".

AllMusic gave it four stars.

Washington Square gave it a 9/10 and finished the review with "When Dylan flexes and fires on all cylinders like this, nobody else has a chance."

That last guy couldn't possibly have been listening to the same CD that I was.

Pitchfork gave it a more realistic 6.2/10, and noted quite accurately "Say what you want about Sinatra, but at least the man could swing." Dylan can sometimes swing, too, but there's none of that here. They also said  "Shadows in the Night may pose some compelling questions for the Bobophiles who scrutinize every line and every word of every Dylan song, but for the more casual, less obsessive listener, it can be a bit of a snooze." To which I say Amen.

Dylan sings these songs really very well, with nuance and emotion. He sings as well, or better, than we could have ever expected. These lovely melodies are enhanced regularly by pedal steel guitar that is just perfect for the occasion. But these ballads (every song) move at glacial speed, making the thought of a dirge sound snappy. I get the whole moody thing, but unless it's two am and you're already depressed, I'd skip this one.